WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 293 days detained in Russia, experiencing the unimaginable. But three years later in Utah, Griner found the good that came out of that experience.
Ahead of the premiere of “The Brittney Griner Story” at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday, Griner reflected on her detainment, life after her release and how those nearly 10 months in Russia strengthened her faith.
“I learned that I can go through a lot, come out the other side,” Griner said. “I learned how resilient I was. I always thought I was pretty resilient, but you know, that definitely tested that and tested my faith and stayed strong with that as well. So, I guess I learned a lot about me and what I can go through.”
For Griner, her faith is “everything,” she told the Deseret News.
“I wouldn’t be standing right here without my Lord and Savior, and I wouldn’t have gotten through half of what I’ve been through without him. I can always rely on him. (He’s) always there for me,” she said.
Is Brittney Griner religious?
While not the focus of the film, Griner’s faith is subtly referenced throughout the documentary that was produced by ESPN 30 For 30.
As she flips through pictures and newspaper clippings of her career with her family in Texas, Griner sports a “Fear of God State” hoodie and reflects on her upbringing.
Once detained in Russia, Griner wasn’t given a toothbrush or other hygiene essentials, but she was given a Sudoku book to pass the time.
Every day, Griner would complete a puzzle and write the date in the margins of the book to keep track of how long she was detained. She’d also use it as a journal, logging her feelings and experiences and even her prayers.
A montage of flipping through the Sudoku book emphasized the length of Griner’s detainment but also featured her pleas to God to bring her home.
Her faith was also evident in the letters she’d write to her family. Even though she was the one detained in a foreign country, excerpts of her letters showed her telling her family that she was praying for them.
‘The Brittney Griner Story’
The 105-minute documentary chronicles Griner’s detainment, the efforts spearheaded by her wife, Cherelle Griner, to bring her home, the politicization of Griner’s detainment and her release.
The film features interviews with Griner, her wife, her agent Lindsay Colas, Griner’s lawyers in Russia and even President Joe Biden.
But “The Brittney Griner Story” is also a story of love and family.
Following the opening credits, the documentary opens with a shot of Griner’s son, Bash, who was born in July 2024, sitting and crawling on the couch next to Griner with a teething toy in his mouth.
Being a parent is one of the biggest joys in Griner’s life, she told the Deseret News.
“It’s amazing, tiring a little bit. A little tiring, but it’s amazing. It’s so rewarding. I can come home, bad day, see my son and it’s just like, all that’s gone. Like, it doesn’t matter. He just wants to play, wrestle and it just warms my heart,” she said.
Cherelle Griner wrote letters to the White House and gave interviews with national media, including one with CBS News, which Gayle King promised her afterward that she’d finally hear from the White House.
Following the CBS interview, Cherelle Griner and Colas visited Biden at the White House, where they spent two hours pleading their case to the president, Colas said in the film.
The mission of getting Griner home was a collective effort, which Griner recognizes. The documentary included footage of the exchange of Griner and Viktor Bout in December 2022.
After Bout and Griner shook hands on the tarmac in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Bout headed toward his awaiting plane.
But instead of Griner doing the same, she walked over to the group of U.S. and UAE officials waiting off to the side who helped make the exchange possible. Griner then personally thanked each of them.
When asked why she chose to do that in the Q&A following the premiere, Griner’s answer was simple. It was “a testament to my parents and how I was raised,” she said.
“Nothing is done without the collective of people, and I want to thank everybody that dealt with my exchange. They provided a safe place for us to do that. It’s only right that I just went and introduced myself and thank them.”
If audiences take away just one thing away from Griner’s story, she hopes it’s the power of working together, she told the Deseret News.
“When you come together, you can make anything happen. There was a lot of people that came together to get me back home. People that I knew, people that I didn’t know. A lot of hours and just a lot of time, a lot of effort. So when we come together, we can literally make anything happen.”
